Type-writer desk.



G. W. BIGKEL.

TYPE WRITER DESK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.28,1909.

Patented May 3, 1919.

2 SHEETS-$331 11 2.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 28, 1909.

Patented May 3, 1910.

Serial No. 492,661.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES IV. BIGKEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Type-Writer Desk, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a typewriter desk and has for its principal object to provide an improved supporting means for the typewriting machine which is of comparatively simple and inexpensive construction, readily manipulated, and so arranged as to provide a flat top desk when the typewriter is not m use.

With this and other objects in View, the invention consists of the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the desk showing the same open with the typewriting machine removed. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical transverse sections taken through the typewriter compartment and showing the desk open and closed, respectively. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of the desk. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the spring bolt for holding the typewriter support in open position.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

In the present instance, I have elected to illustrate the invention as a cabinet typewriter desk with a set of drawers 1 at one side of the typewriter-holding compartment. The desk is provided with a flat top 2 supported on corner end legs 3 and intermediate legs 4, and in the top 2 is a rectangular opening 5 through which the typewriter is raised and lowered in the opening and closing of the desk. The cabinet section A of the desk is formed between the intermediate supporting legs and one set of end legs, while the typewriting compartment B is arranged between the other set of end legs and intermediate legs. The compartment B is closed at its inner end by the cabinet section and atits outer end by a wall 6, while the back of the compartment is closed by the rear panel 7 of the desk, the bottom and front of the compartment being closed in any suitable manner, as for instance, by an arcuate or other plate 8 arranged concentrically around the center on which the typewriter support swings. I do not wish to be limited to this exact construction, however.

The typewriter support comprises a plate or leaf 9 of such size as to swing in and out of the opening 5 in the top of the desk, and this plate has its rear end secured to the table top by hinges 10. Secured to the support is a plate or leaf 11 arranged approximately at right angles to the plate 9 and rigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner, as for instance by L-shaped brackets 12 having their members set into the side edges of the plates 9 and 11, respectively. The plate 11 is of such size as to fit in the opening 5 when the typewriter support is let down to close the desk, and the plate 11 is supported so that its top surface will be flush with the top 2 of the desk. The typewriter support is held in this position, with the plate 11 flush with the desk top, by the front end of the plate resting on a cross bar or abutment 17, as shown in Fig. 3, the cross bar being secured to the front, end and intermediate legs 3 and 4. The plate 9 is shorter than the plate 11 so as to swing in and out of the typewriter compartment, and the said plate is provided with a springpressed bolt 13 which projects forwardly from the front edge of the plate 9 and rests on the cross bar 17 to hold the typewriter and support in open position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The spring-pressed bolt 13 is arranged in a housing lat secured to the under side of the leaf or plate 9, and is adapted to be manipulated by a knob or grip 15 which has a stem 16 that projects through an opening in the plate 9 and is equipped at its lower end with a cam 19 for withdrawing the bolt against the tension of the spring 20 in the casing or housing 18. The cam 19 engages an abutment 21 on the bolt, so that by turning the knob 15, the bolt 13 can be retracted when it is desired to lower the typewriter into the compartment and close the desk. The cross bar 17 is provided with a wear plate 22 with which the bolt engages, and during the upward movement of the typewriter support from the position shown in Fig. 3, the bolt strikes the wear plate 22 and is pushed inwardly until the bolt reaches the top of the cross bar 17, when the spring 20 expands to project the bolt over the cross bar and thus hold the typewriter support in open position.

In practice, the typewriter is fastened to the plate or leaf 9 by hooks 18 or equivalent fastenings that engage a suitable part of the typewriter frame so that the latter will be firmly held in place when not in use and in opening and closing the desk. In opening the desk, the uses grasps the forwardly-projecting ends of the plate 11 and swings the same upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 2, and at the end of this movement, the bolt will automatically lock the support in open position. When the desk is open, the plate 11, that normally forms part of the desk top, is disposed in upright position beyond the typewriter, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the same may be used as a copyholder by attaching a clip thereto. lVhen the desk is to be closed, the knob 15 is turned with one hand to retract the bolt, while the plate 11 is held by the other hand, so that the support and typewriter will not be permitted to drop. After the bolt is released, the support is allowed to slowly swing closed, when the parts will assume the position shown in Fig. 3. TVhen the desk is closed, the typewriter is completely housed so as to be protected from dust, and at the same time the desk will be perfectly flat so that it can be used for any desired purpose. Although the desk is shown as having a set of drawers only at one side, it is to be understood that the desk can be made with drawers at both sides, and furthermore, the desk could be equipped with an ordinary roll top.

From theforegoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when de sired as are within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a typewriter desk, the combination of a fiat top having an opening, a typewriter compartment under the opening, a swinging typewriter support consisting of two plates arranged at an angle to each other and of different lengths, one for holdin the typewriter and the other for closing the opening when the typewriter is not in use, means for hingedly-securing the support to the table top at the rear of the opening thereof, a member extending across the front of the opening and located at a distance from the said means greater than the length of one plate and less than the length of the other plate for holding the said support in open or closed position, and a device for releasably connecting the shorter plate with the said member.

2. In a typewriter desk, the combination of a table top provided with an opening, a compartment under the opening, an L- shaped typewriter carrier movable in and out of the opening and including a long plate adapted to close the opening when the carrier is in closed position and a short plate, a cross bar at thefront of the opening on which the long plate rests when the carrier is closed, and a spring-pressed bolt arranged on the short plate to engage the cross-bar to hold the carrier in open position.

3. A typewriter desk comprising a table top having an opening, a compartment under the opening, a swinging typewriter support consisting of two right-angularly disposed plates of different lengths, the longer plate serving to form a closure for the opening when the said support is in closed position, a member on which the longer plate rests when the support is in closed position, means for securing a typewriter to the shorter plate, a device on the shorter plate for automatically engaging the said member to hold the support in open position, and means for manually releasing said device to move the support to closed position. in the compartment.

1. A typewriter desk comprising a table top having an opening and a compartment under the opening, a swinging typewriter support consisting of two plates arranged at an angle to each other, means for hinging the support at the rear end of the opening, a cross bar at the front end of the opening set below the table top and inwardly from the front edge thereof, one of said plates being arranged to directly engage the cross bar and serving to form a closure for the said opening when the support is in closed position, the other plate constituting a base for the typewriter, and a spring-pressed bolt carried by the last-mentioned plate and adapted to engage the cross bar.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES V. BICKEL.

Vitnesses C. B. HARRIS, MARIE A. SPIRY. 

